Haiti by the numbers.
A note on statistics in Haiti
Collecting statistics in the developing world is hard (cf: Poor Numbers, 2007). Agencies tasked with gathering data are commonly understaffed and underfunded, leading to unreliable baseline data and potentially biased and inaccurate results. What we have done here is to collect the best numbers we could find while bearing in mind these challenges.
To learn more about Haiti Partners, please visit our homepage.
Poverty
- Haiti ranks 168 out of 187 on the 2014 Human Development Index (UNDP 2015)
- Gross National Income per capita (at Purchase Power Parity) is $1730. The average for Caribbean/Latin American developing countries is $14,098. (World Bank 2014)
- 59% of the population lives on less than US$2 per day (World Bank 2012)
- 24.7% lives in extreme poverty on less than US$1.25 per day. (UNDP 2013)
- Poverty is mainly rural, at 75.2%, vs. 40.8% in urban areas. (MDG rpt 2013)
- Over two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs. (CIA Factbook 2014)
Education
Enrollment & Retention
- 50 percent of children do not attend school. (World Bank 2013)
- Approximately 30% of children attending primary school will not make it to third grade; 60% will abandon school before sixth grade. (UNICEF 2008)
- Only 29 percent of Haitians 25 and above attended secondary school. (USAID 2015)
Quality
- Almost 80 percent of teachers have not received any pre-service training. (USAID 2015)
- Half of public sector teachers in Haiti lack basic qualifications. (USAID 2015)
- 90% of primary schools are non-public and managed by communities, religious organizations or NGOs. (USAID 2007)
Literacy
- Haiti’s literacy rate is 61% – 64% for males and 57% for females. (CIA Factbook Nov 2015) The average literacy rate for Latin American and Caribbean developing countries is 92%. (World Bank 2015)
Health & Nutrition
- Life expectancy is 63 years. (World Bank 2013)
- 30% of the population is considered food insecure. (World Food Programme 2015)
- Infant mortality: 55 per 1000 births (UNICEF 2015)
- 59 per 1,000 born in Haiti die before reaching their first birthday (Ministry of Health 2012)
- Under five mortality rate: 88 per 1000 live births (Ministry of Health 2012)
- “An estimated 1 in 285 births will result in a woman’s death, a ratio about 16 times higher than in the United States.” (Partners in Health 2014)
- Prevalence of stunting (moderate to severe) is 22%. (UNICEF 2015)
Country Info
Population: 10,461,000 (UNICEF 2015)
Age structure: (CIA Factbook 2015)
- 0-14 years: 33.28% (male 1,686,647/female 1,678,156)
- 15-24 years: 21.64% (male 1,093,024/female 1,094,591)
- 25-54 years: 35.78% (male 1,801,988/female 1,815,819)
- 55-64 years: 5.11% (male 247,588/female 269,103)
- 65 years and over: 4.18% (male 188,952/female 234,151) (2015 est.)
- Median age: 22.2
Last updated: November 18, 2015